ANN ARBOR -- Michigan's defensive line comes under more daily scrutiny than any other position group on the field.

More than that, it probably comes under more scrutiny than any other two position groups combined.

Why?

Because Michigan's head man (Brady Hoke) and its defensive coordinator (Greg Mattison) are both defensive line coaches at heart. In fact, together, they are the Wolverines' defensive line coach -- Hoke coaches the tackles, Mattison coaches the ends.

So, after Michigan's defensive line struggled to find any consistent pressure against Notre Dame during a 41-30 win Saturday, it was only natural to assume both Hoke and Mattison would be overly critical of the group's performance.

That was partly true.

"You know, everybody has a lot of pride as far as their defense, (but) I have more pride in these guys maybe than I've ever had in a group because they're so young," Mattison said Tuesday. "When you sit there and you hear that voice saying, 'Get after them, get after them,' I just kept saying, 'No. No. We're going to be fine.'

"(But) we have to improve. We have to definitely improve and we will improve."

At one point during a more heated moment of the Notre Dame game, Mattison said he looked out onto the field and realized he was playing one senior, two juniors and eight sophomores or redshirt freshmen.

On top of that, both Hoke and Mattison admitted Notre Dame's rapid tempo and quick-release passing patterns were designed to keep pressure away from quarterback Tommy Rees. As was the Fighting Irish's routine six-man protection package. As was Notre Dame's offensive line, which is -- by Michigan's evaluation -- top notch.

But, at some point, that's not an excuse.

"I don't think we were OK, because we had some one-on-one (matchups)," Hoke said. "And you're going to have a one-on-one in there somewhere, and the expectation is that we have to do a better job and beat them on the one-on-ones.

"So no, are we satisfied? No. Not even close to it. This week, (Akron is) a wide open attack. Four wide receivers, so it's critical that we get better in the pass rush individually, but also in the games that we want to run with them."

Michigan's sack production was a hot topic of conversation all offseason, as the Wolverines registered just 12 sacks from its defensive line last season.

Through two games this season, Michigan has five sacks -- two of them are from linebacker Cam Gordon. Linebacker Brennen Beyer also has two, though both of his came with his hand on the ground at defensive end. The other comes from Ojemudia.

Michigan's on pace to up those totals, but it's still nowhere near where Hoke and Mattison want it to be.

"It's a work in progress," Mattison said. "You're not all of a sudden going to be a great pass rush team. It's like everything else. There's technique involved in it. And there's obviously recruiting involved in it.

"You've got to be an athlete. But at the same time you have to work great technique to do that."